A Tangled Web
by NemoForever
Summary: Wow, only 255 characters? Oh well. Bored billionaire gamer meets bad cop Barricade. Starscream fled into space... or did he? Sam discovers something shocking and inadvertently begins to fulfill Megatron's goals for Earth. Don't forget the other autobots!
1. Another Arrival

I had no idea I was such a Fanfiction noob.

*All the characters fold their arms and glare*

What? I can't help it! Everytime I made an account there was a three-day waiting period and I forgot my password. I know, I'm pathetic.

*Still staring at the others, who are glaring at her* There is definitely something wrong with the structure of the story, I just can't figure it out because I'm a writing noob, as well. If you can pin it down, feel free to criticize. ^__^

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The November sky was surprisingly clear and dark, full of glittering stars that peered out from the blue-black depths to wink at the town below, although they did nothing to warm the town. Normally blistering and hot, it was currently blanketed in an uncomfortable coldness that was only the beginning of a long winter.

A lone old man living on the outskirts of town sat on his back porch and drank a beer, humming a low tune as he listened to the night noises from the semi-wildness around him and contemplated his success in life. Robert Stillel had worked his whole life as a government scientist in many fields, examining anything and everything the government deemed interesting or suspicious. Being well-learned in various fields of science, he had reduced the government's need to involve more scientists and thus the risk of exposure concerning certain classified projects. He had more than earned his right to retire to this luxury cabin on the outskirts of the city, where he could appreciate nature and still reach a library or movie theatre in fifteen minutes tops.

Still, leave it to fate to perform the ultimate act of irony by leaving him out of the Mission City project. What he had and probably still was missing was like a knife to his gut, twisting every time he thought about it. He was more qualified than anyone to be on that project, so why was it that he had only heard about it from a friend who had dared to trust him with the confidential secret? He tried to console himself with the fact that he'd been successful in life and had everything he wanted...

It was very little comfort.

It was only fitting, perhaps Divine Intervention he would later think, that he be the only witness to the ball of flames that shot across the sky like a comet, growing ever larger in his field of vision until it collided violently with the earth about a quarter of a mile away. He shot out of his rocking chair, but was thrown back into it not a second later by a massive rumble that shook his house violently like an earthquake, shattering glasses and causing his window panes to vibrate.

It lasted for a couple seconds before all was silent, and the only thing he could hear was the sound of fizzing beer sloshing out of the can as it rolled across the porch and off the edge. The only thing he could see as he squinted at the field of wheat across the street was smoke... at first.

Still peering anxiously for any signs of fire, he saw a shadowy silhouette rise against the light of the city, huge... it had to be huge, if he could see it that well from that distance. It then seemed to shrink before his very eyes, disappearing into the darkness of the land until there was nothing but smoke and sudden silence from the forest animals that had been chattering animatedly not ten minutes before.

"What the heck was that?" He squawked to the still air, but of course, received no reply. He squinted at the crash site for all of five minutes before he got up from his rocking chair with a groan and walked across the porch of his two-story luxury cabin. A moment later he descended the steps with keys in hand, got into his dark blue Nissan FairLady and sat for a moment, indecisive.

"Screw the damn authorities. I want samples first," He muttered to himself, returning to the house to get his basic chemical analysis kit. A few moments later he was driving over the rough terrain, headed for the crash site and cringing about the dirt he would see on his brand new sports car, but figuring he would live since he had owned a piece-of-shit F150 a majority of his life.

When he arrived at the crash site, he was disappointed to find only a large furrow-like hole in the ground where the meteor had crashed, and then... not so disappointed. A meteor certainly couldn't disintegrate from the force, could it? According to the shape, size, and depth of the furrow, the meteor was too large to have been disintegrated from the collision, yet it was nowhere to be found. And what about that odd shape he'd seen rising from the crater? It would've been quite curious if he hadn't heard about the Mission city project.

Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, he calculated the time and began collecting generous samples of dirt and moisture from various points in and around the furrow, some in sample tubes and others with fabric pads which were then sealed in plastic bags. He weighed his kit after all the sample tubes were in it and, subtracting the previous weight of the kit, thought he might've collected about five pounds of dirt. It would have to do.

He finished by taking dozens of snapshots from dozens of angles, and then glanced at his watch. He figured he'd spent half an hour down here studying the crash site and decided it was time to go inform the authorities before his waiting period made him suspicious. He had no doubt he was treading on dangerous ground by simply collecting samples, and took care to leave no trace of evidence behind. He'd tell them it took him a while to get dressed and then he'd had to stop for gas along the way, since he'd just filled his tank up not three hours before.

On his way back to his car he tripped over something hard and face planted, nearly losing all his carefully collected samples. After assuring that they'd remained intact, he searched for the object he'd tripped over and found a twisted piece of unusual looking metal. He took it, too.

IOh this is just too good to be true,/I Stillel thought gleefully as he started his car and did a U-turn to head back towards the road in front of his house.

He was unaware of the looming shadow that hid itself within the trees a dozen yards away, watching as he sped off in his expensive sports car.

Not ten minutes after he had driven away, a dark blue Nissan FairLady drove across the wild terrain from the crash site, encountered the road, and immediately headed for the city at high speed.

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A flashy semi-truck sat idling on a wide residential street that was deserted save for the occasional late night driver, smoke spouting in puffs above it's cab. There were several mechanical, gutteral noises that almost formed a pattern as the semi-truck, who was Optimus Prime in disguise, grumbled to himself in Cybertronian.

**[What's taking him so long?] **Optimus muttered, then fell silent as a shiny red Volkswagon ambled past. He scanned it, but found it to be a normal Human-made car devoid of a spark. The rig sighed and cut his engines, wondering yet again why his companion was so late.

He'd been pleasantly surprised at the speed in which some of his conrads responded to his radio transmission, even if their response had been dozens of questions that he just couldn't answer until they landed. Of the four he'd gotten in touch with, three were still waiting for an opportune moment and location to land, while one had already been in the perfect spot to descend and was supposedly on his way to Optimus' location disguised as a Human vehicle.

Trust him not to mention just what vehicle make and model he had chosen, leaving Optimus to scan every car, truck, and van that rumbled past. Two more cars drove past in the span of two and a half hours, both of them native and driven by Humans. Optimus practically deflated on his tires as time passed and the night grew old.

"Before you ask, I made the mistake of taking a shortcut. Is 'shortcut' a Human term for 'endless maze'?" A cheery voice inquired, cracking the silence of the night, as a midnight blue Nissan FairLady pulled up beside Optimus and cut it's engines.

**[Cybertronian, if you will, Bluestreak.] **Optimus inwardly winced at his loud companion.** [I see you took my advice and searched the internet.]**

**[Oh, right. I had to get directions somewhere... I also found some amusing video capture of Human activity. Youtube, I believe the site is called. Who knew there was another species out there with such a sense of humor? They also seem to enjoy hurting and scaring themselves.] **Bluestreak sounded quite puzzled by the last portion of his statement.

**[Not unlike our Cybertronian younglings. They are quite a... versatile species. They are young and--**

**[Prolific. No wonder there's so many of them here.]**

**[How did you come by that information?] **The semi demanded in a scolding tone that parents usually reserved for their children.

**[Well, there was this interesting site called T& and the little symbol in the middle made me curious, so I--]**

**[I can't believe you looked at that site. The home page alone should be an indicator of it's... unusual content.] **Optimus quickly exited the site.

**[If I didn't know any better I'd say you were embarassed. Did your flaming paint job suddenly get brighter?] **Bluestreak snickered hysterically at his own joke for a couple seconds before Optimus cut him off with an interesting topic change.

**[Let's get going. The others are waiting in a junkyard near Sam's house.] **The semi-truck rumbled to life and started down the road.

**[Sam?]**

**[Yes, I believe I mentioned him. He's the one that, against all odds, defeated Megatron, saving my life in the process.]**

**[Sounds like quite a story. You never told me he defeated Megatron... he must be some warrior,]** Bluestreak commented, surprise evident in his voice as he started his engine and trailed after his leader, who was already several yards ahead of him.

There was an odd whirring sound as Optimus chuckled, secretly agreeing. Youngling though he was, Sam was a remarkable Human.

**[I'll brief you on the way there...]**

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Three Cybertronian warriors stood towering over the various junkyard cars around them, keeping a watch out for suspicious activity, but still doing their own things to relieve their impatience and boredom. Ironhide was doing a routine inspection of his canons, his third one that night; Ratchet was doing a routine inspection of the other two, thankfully his first; Bumblebee was surfing the web and watching the junkyard entrance.

**[Jazz would be going crazy right about now,] **Ironhide muttered gruffly, his tone devoid of sadness... but the fact that he had mentioned it was proof enough.

**[I disagree. All that "Urban Culture" he downloaded went to his head. He'd probably be... what's the term...]** Ratchet muttered as he scanned Bumblebee.

_"Darius Jones tried to breakdance his way into Americon Idol last week--"_ A cheery voice announced from Bee's radio.

**[Yes, that's what it was. Breakdancing.]** Ratchet nodded and continued his scan, then looked up, startled. [**Don't tell me your vocal chords are still damaged!]**

**[Just kidding.]** Bee grinned and folded his arms, leaning back against a small crane, which rattled against his weight but held firm.

Ratchet grunted while Ironhide and Bee shared a smirk.

**[Incoming vehicles,]** Bumblebee noted, straightening and staring intently at the road as two pairs of headlights illuminated it.

Ratchet and Ironhide looked up as well, but as the two vehicles drew closer, they returned to their scans.

**[It's just Optimus and Bluestreak.]** Ironhide grumbled, not glancing up again until the two were actually sitting in front of them.

**[I see you guys missed me.] **The Nissan stated, before transforming into his Autobot mode. **[What's all this about Jazz?]**

**[You didn't tell him?]** Ratchet asked Optimus as he transformed out of his semi-truck alt mode.

**[I had only just gotten to the part where Megatron thawed.]**

**[But you've been gone for hours.]** Ironhide said with a frown, finally finishing his inspection and withdrawing his canons.

**[A majority of that time was spent waiting on Bluestreak.]** Optimus replied rather sourly.

Bluestreak just shrugged.

**[It's nice to see you, Bluestreak. Where's the rest of your team?]** Bumblebee asked.

**[They're still waiting to land. Some space junk got in the way, not to mention they're trying to avoid Earth's satellites.]**

**[How did we avoid Earth's satellites?] **Ratchet wondered.

**[We didn't.] **Optimus replied with a sigh.

**[Let's hear the rest of your story already, Optimus. You went quiet at the best part.]**

**[Oh, that wasn't the best part.]** Ironhide smirked, recalling Starscream dropping missiles in Mission City.

**[Very well. From what the Humans said, we believe Frenzy cut the power and Megatron melted rather quickly... at this time, Sam was trying to convince Sector Seven to let Bumblebee go so he could protect the Allspark--]**

**[Sam?]**

**[I just told you who he was not half an hour ago. Ratchet, Bluestreak needs an inspection.]**

**[Already on it. He's got a few dings and a bad memory.]**

**[No brain damage?]**

**[No.]**

**[Are you su--]**

**[Optimuuus.] **Bluestreak groaned.

**[Very well,]** Optimus conceded reluctantly.** [Bumblebee was somewhat mistreated, which is upsetting, but Sam has assured me that they treat Humans the same way when they show unusual traits. Bumblebee shrunk the Allspark down to Sam's size and, with a government escort, took Sam and Mikaela to Mission City to hide the Allspark, where the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons began in earnest...]**

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Like I said, don't be afraid to tell me what you think while I don't care. ^__^

This is my first attempt ever at writing a story, so how long the chapters should be, when I'll be updating, and all that detailed stuff, I dunno.


	2. Back To Normal

_Sam stared dumbly down at the Allspark and then up at Megatron's snarling visage as he momentarily knocked Optimus aside and dove forward..._

_"Give me the Allspark, boy!" _

_He was frozen in place, hearing Optimus speaking, giving him instructions, but he couldn't hear over all the noise... where was all that noise coming from? So loud, so distracting, but it became distant and muffled as he looked into Megatron's glaring red optics and realized that someone was going to die in the next few minutes. Optimus, Megatron, himself... this was his moment, he had to do what Optimus said but Megatron was so close, would he be able to make it? Optimus would die and so would Megatron, but why did it have to be both of them? What should he do..._

_It was then that someone else seemed to be controlling him. As his mine became frantic with thoughts, worries, and uncertainties, his body propelled him towards... Megatron? But wait! What if it did nothing? What if Megatron simply absorbed it all and became more powerful? What if Megatron snatched it out of his hand before he reached the chest cavity? What if, what if, what if. _

_He was already there, lifting the Allspark towards Megatron as if offering a sacrifice. The giant mech reared up, exposing his chest and that's when everything went to hell. The Allspark felt as if it were burning through his skin, tingling painfully like jolts of electricity throughout his entire body and making him weak, yet at the same time he seemed frozen in place, unable to tear himself away from the painful yet oddly comfortable feeling that threatened to consume him..._

_The Allspark's shell exploded, leaving in it's place a glowing orange orb that was sucked into Megatron's chest cavity, turning his spark that same vibrant orange that seared Sam's retinas, and then he was staring down at himself, as small and insignificant as a bug as he --Megatron-- flexed his fingers, feeling the tingle of the Allspark's energy surging through every inch of his body. _

_He laughed hysterically, high on the fact that he... HE was a God now. He could do as he wished, he could make life or he could take it away. His first order of business would be too see Optimus kneel before him, the Allspark! _

_"What's the matter, Sam? Isn't this what you wanted? If you really worried about this happening, then you knew there was a good chance that it would," Megatron sighed mockingly, as if reprimanding a child, and leaned down to peer at the horrified Human gleefully. "You failed them! Hahaha!" _

_Sam turned to Optimus for reassurance, but his expression was blank. "I should've known better than to trust a youngling who can't obey orders," the Autobot leader said with a resigned sigh. Those words hurt, but not as much as the fact that he'd just doomed the last of one race and the beginning of another to death. _

_And then he was angry, even though he knew it was his fault... "It's your fault! You shouldn't have come here! The Allspark shouldn't have come here! Don't blame me, I'm just a kid..." He trailed off as a shadow loomed over him, watching with wordless horror as a giant metal foot descended._

_"About time I started crushing these Humans like bugs," Megatron muttered as he ground his foot against the asphault for good measure, then turned to grin at Optimus, suddenly feeling quite generous. "I feel that since we are brothers, I should give you a chance to redeem yourself before destroying you..."_

_He laughed joyfully, with an undercurrent of something sinister that caused Sam to shiver violently as he stirred from his sleep, despite the fact that it was--_

"Why is it so hot?" Sam muttered, sweating profusely as he woke from sleep, kicking his blanket off of him but it didn't help much. His whole bed felt like an oven and he could hardly breath from all the heat surrounding him. He started to turn over but an odd tingling feeling left him weak and unable to move... not unlike the feeling he got when a limb had fallen asleep and the blood flow was returning to it.

Uncomfortable, but unable to do much about it, he glanced at the alarm clock, registered that it was 3:00 AM, and abruptly fell back into a fitful sleep.

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Sam slapped the snooze button on his alarm clock and inwardly groaned, relieved to find himself comfortable and even chilly in his bed, though he couldn't remember why he had expected to be hot.

"Sam, you're gonna be late! I'm not driving all the way to your school to sign you in after I spent money to buy you a car!" Ron yelled up the stairs, drinking his coffee and glancing down at his furry bathrobe when a drop stained it.

"Don't be a hypocrite dear. You've got ten minutes to get to work and you aren't even dressed," Judy said, unconcerned as she washed a plate in the sink and set it in the dish drainer.

"Yeah well, at least I'm awake," He retorted, meandering back towards the bedroom. "He probably didn't even hear me."

"Sam, get your rear end out of bed and down these stairs!" Judy called, shaking her head and reaching for the foghorn laying conveniently on the kitchen table.

"I'm up, I'm awake!" Sam shouted desperately, knowing what was coming next. He lay there a moment more, then slid off of the bed with a groan, stumbling as the blanket tangled around his legs and eventually staggering towards the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Even after a month, he was still slightly sore from all the running, falling, crashing, being thrown through the air by explosions, falling some more, running some more. He also felt the same heavy fatigue he felt when he woke up after taking Tylenol PM, despite the fact that he hadn't taken any medicine and had gotten a full night's rest.

"Giant alien robots. I don't believe it," Sam murmured to the mirror around a mouthful of toothpaste, sending a streak of pale blue foam across the glass as he scoffed. He started brushing again, then half a minute later stopped for an even bigger scoff.

"No, that's believeable. What I don't believe is that I'm dating the hottest girl in school when she didn't even know I existed for most of my life. No, wait. I can't be bitter... it doesn't matter. What matters now is that she does notice me, and she likes me... even if it's only because of giant alien robots. No, I can't be bitter! Besides, she only noticed me because of them... she grew to like me on her own... I hope."

"Sam, are you talking to yourself again?" Judy called up. Her hearing was uncanny.

"No Mom, I'm brushing my teeth!"

"Well, hurry up, will you? You've got fifteen minutes"

"Fifteen minutes? That's... that's plenty of time. Why is she rushing me?" He grumbled to himself, drinking a mouthful of water and beginning to rinse. He swallowed and nearly choked on it as a familiar car horn blared twice from outside.

"Why is HE rushing me?"

Just for that, he decided to take a shower.

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With ten minutes to go before he was late for school, Sam ran out the front door and jogged around the yellow Chevrolet Camaro that was secretly Bumblebee, his guardian. His lungs ached slightly from the cold air and his breath created a fog as he exhaled quickly and got into the car, tossing his bookbag in the back.

"Hey Bee," He whispered, yawning as he stuck his keys in the ignition and twisted. Keller had agreed to restore all the property damage caused to the Witwicky's house as a result of the Autobots, and Sam was using that as an excuse as to why his car was suddenly sleek, shiny, and brand new. There was no way he was going to tell his parents that his car was a giant alien robot... mostly because his Mom would put two and two together and know who shattered her water fountain.

_"Good morning America--" _A woman gushed from the radio.

"Still using the radio, huh?" Sam chuckled.

_"You know you can't be too careful in this day and time, Amy. People are always watching. People are so nosy--" _A male voice complained playfully.

"I agree," Sam muttered as he watched his Mom walk out on the porch and make "Hurry up and leave" motions at him with her hands.

He gave her an annoyed, exaggerated nod of his head and twisted around in his seat to check the road behind him. It was clear. He grabbed the steering wheel, pressing slowly on the gas pedal, and began to guide the Camaro out--

"What the..." He cried as the car practically tore backwards out of the driveway and began to zoom down the road. _"Bumblebee."_

"What? You drive like an old woman," The Camaro said cheerfully as Sam put his hands on the steering wheel and glanced around nervously.

"Yeah, well, like you pointed out... people are watching," Sam muttered, making no attempt to drive. "And my Mom's going to complain about what she thinks is my careless driving. No offense, you actually drive very good but my Mom's paranoid even though she's always going ten miles over the speed limit..."

Bumblebee chuckled and let Sam ramble for a minute or two then cut him off. "Another Autobot arrived last night."

"What? Where is he? What's his name? What's he like? Does he know what happened? Where are you all staying?"

Another whirring chuckle from the yellow Camaro. "Slow down. His name is Bluestreak, Optimus told him everything last night, and we're all staying in the Junkyard."

"You didn't tell me what he was like."

"I thought it would be better if you met him in person and decided for yourself."

"Right. After school then. We really need to find a better place for you guys to stay. Someone will be wondering why there are a bunch of shiny new cars in the junkyard."

"Well, Mr Keller offered to give us a safe place to stay, but the location was remote and we'd rather be here."

"Yeah, they probably wanted to study you as well. What is up with the government wanting to turn everything into an experiment?"

Bumblebee was quiet for a few minutes as he remembered his brief yet unpleasant stay in a Government facility. It was hard not to resent them, even knowing why they did it and the fact that they hadn't really known what they were doing. But if Optimus could understand them and be the better person, so could he.

"Their logic _is_ sound. They want to study anything unfamiliar so they can learn to defend themselves against it. Humans are so weak... no offense, Sam." Bumblebee finally replied.

"None taken. I'd think we were weak, too, if I were one hundred times the size of a Human and covered in metal armor like a tank."

Bumblebee chuckled again but said no more as they pulled up in front of Mikaela's house.

"There's Mikaela, already waiting for us," Sam noticed as the female waved, tossed her backpack over her shoulder, and jogged towards the car.

"Hey Bee." She tossed her backpack beside Sam's and hopped into the passenger seat, now more comfortable with Bumblebee than she had been a month ago.

She leaned over to give Sam a kiss on the mouth and they both jumped as something gave them a mild shock, withdrawing and rubbing their lips. _"Bumblebee..." _They both said at once.

"What? I didn't do anything," Bee denied, and Mikaela just rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat.

After a moment, she asked why Sam wasn't driving and Bumblebee answered. They both went through the same verbal routine he had; Bumblebee informing Mikaela of Bluestreak's arrival, Mikaela asking why Sam had been late, Bumblebee commenting on how lazy Sam was... and then they both drilled him all the way to the school.

_Why do I get the feeling my life has suddenly become much, much more complicated? _Sam thought with a smile, listening to his two friends and trying to look like he was actually driving. _And why do I suddenly feel like I'm forgetting something? Think. Think. math book... I got it. I'm pretty sure I got it. Yeah, I did. I think. Crap. _

Sam pulled his bookbag into the front seat and began to look through it for his math book.

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_"Bumblebee, is it? Well all your friends are dead and all that's left is Optimus. I'm sure you'll want to die first so you don't have to watch him die..."_

"Sam? Sam Wit-icky? Mr Wit-icky..."

Sam jerked awake and glanced around as the teacher's voice rose on "mister", bewildered. Realizing he was in English, his final class for the day, he flushed and leaned back in his chair, trying to look attentive. There were a couple snickers, then sudden silence as the teacher's look went from stern and annoyed to concerned and surprised.

"Is there something wrong Mr Wit-icky?"

"What? No. Why would there be... no. There's nothing wrong. Why would you ask that? And it's, uh... Wit_wicky_." He flushed again, thinking he sounded like an ass correcting the teacher like that.

He glanced at Mikaela, who was also looking at him concerned, and started to rub his eyes. They felt wet... very wet. He was crying? Why? No wonder everyone was looking at him weird.

"Oh, uh, this? Oh. Sometimes..." He paused, trying to think of an excuse so everyone would stop staring. "Uh, well, kinda embarrassing... my eyes tend to get really watery? And I don't even realize it... especially when I sleep..." Horrible excuse, but it worked. The teacher shook his head and went back to teaching the class, while Trent waved at Sam and then pretended to burst into tears, scrunching his face up in a mock-tearful expression.

Mikaela flipped Trent the bird and Trent frowned, then scowled at Sam. Mikaela only smiled, the smile getting wider and softer when Sam looked her way. He rested his forehead on his arm and wiped his face, wondering what in the world had caused his eyes to water like that.

And then he remembered that horrible, horrible nightmare and groaned, willing it to erase itself from his memory.

The autobots won, he'd made the right decision... why did he feel so guilty?

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This chapter had some timeline inconsistancies, but I caught the little buggers.


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